Supervisors’ Hearing On Drainage Ditch Repair

April 3, 2014

The Board of Supervisors held a hearing regarding the repairs to Joint Drainage District 60 Lateral 8 Tile during their meeting on Tuesday April 1. Through a telephone conference, the supervisors of Clay County were also involved in the hearing. Kent Rode, Professional Engineer, with I & S Group was in attendance at the meeting along with nine landowners.

The proposed repair is the result of landowner Ray Grandstaff petitioning the Palo Alto Board of Supervisors, as Trustees for the drainage district, in July 2011. Since that time surveys have been completed and the IA DNR drained Virgin Lake into the district. According to the report provided by Rode, the drawdown of the lake did not materially impair the Drainage District facility.

Through his report, Rode recommends replacing the 21-inch pipe with 24-inch diameter, tongue and groove reinforced concrete pipe along with 3-4 feet of cover to prevent future blowouts. He also said he doesn't believe the repair will not have an adverse affect on the wetlands within the watershed. It has also been determined that the ammonia gas pipeline in the area is outside the district right-of-way.

Several times during the hearing, Rode referred to the fact that the facility was established in 1912 and the tile is near its life expectancy.

The estimated cost of the repair is $156, 731. The average cost per watershed acre is $95.43. Rode's report also indicates the average cost per watershed acre for 10 years will be $12.35.

Several letters of objection to the repair project were read and Robert Jones voiced objections. After a fair amount of discussion, landowner Kirby Sampson suggested using plastic piping instead of the concrete suggested. In response to the plastic suggestion, Rode said he believes the pipe should be embedded in rock. "When you use rock, as it should be done, the cost to use concrete becomes about the same."

In the end, the supervisors instructed Rode to let bids for the project and include the alternates of using for plastic pipe, with and without the rock base. The bid letting is scheduled for May 13, at 10 a.m. Rode indicated the construction would take place after fall harvest is complete.